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From the time this was posted two days ago: This keeps showing up but it's total bullshit. Cuban wants to take 15% of the transaction for running a web site an
by treis 4y ago
From the time this was posted two days ago:
This keeps showing up but it's total bullshit. Cuban wants to take 15% of the transaction for running a web site and processing payment. They're not manufacturing drugs. They're not buying drugs. They're not shipping drugs. They're not doing anything at all besides taking your order and giving it to someone to do all those things.
It's not a charity. It's a profitable business and a very profitable one at that.
Oh yeah, and the prices aren't lower than what you can get using GoodRX.
- 0des 4y agoI mean if you're old enough to remember broadcast.com I don't think anybody had high expectations.
- pc86 4y agoIt seems to have worked out for him.
- whitepoplar 4y agoI'm curious, what was broadcast.com like? What were the issues?
- criddell 4y agoHow does GoodRX work?
- bmelton 4y agoThey're a deal site, basically You need <drug> in <area> They search pharmacy prices in <area> for <drug> + <generic versions of drug> You get back a list of where it is cheapest to have <drug> fulfilled by a pharmacy in <area>
- SeanLuke 4y agoThis isn't correct. GoodRx makes money by partnering with Pharmacy Benefits Managers. It's taking advantage of a loophole in the US's extraordinarily convoluted drug pricing system.
- criddell 4y agoDo you know more about how this works? I know it's not just a coupon scheme or search engine and I'd like to know how it works under the covers.
- woobar 4y agoI think it is a little more than just a drug search engine. If you come to to a local pharmacy the price of a generic drug will $50, but if you show them the GoodRx referral with a price quote they will sell it for $5. Not sure what their relationship with the pharmacies are.
- treis 4y agoPart of how the government determines the price it pays for drugs is based on the retail price. That (among other reasons) gives manufacturers incentive to have crazy list prices. A drug that sells for $50 might have a list price of $1,000. Enter insurance companies. They don't want to pay $1,000 for a $50 drug so they negotiate. But there's too many insurance companies for them to have good leverage and efficiencies in negotiation. Enter Pharmacy Benefits Managers. They get hired by insurance companies to negotiate with drug companies and pharmacies. Thus the buying power is pooled and they only have to pay people to negotiate one time. GoodRX is like the last category. Except that instead of getting paid by insurance companies they sell user data and collect some fees from pharmacies and drug manufacturers.
- madmax108 4y agoThis is such a great, useful explainer (esp. for someone outside the US who don't really know how these systems are set up in the US). Thanks!
- spywaregorilla 4y agoWas there someone around previously who could take my order and give me the drugs at those prices? I'm not convinced this is true. I'm not familiar with GoodRx but they appear to be a coupon aggregator which is not the same thing
- treis 4y agoDepending on the drug, yes. Walmart & Amazon have cheap generics and so do many regional grocery stores.
- spywaregorilla 4y ago> Depending on the drug That seems like the value prop though. The cases where it's not, and the alternatives are absurdly expensive. People seem to be focusing on the median case where it's marginally more expensive or cheaper
- user_7832 4y agoI'm pretty sure you're free to compete with them if you think it's profitable. In reality I'd expect that 15% to be necessary if they want the company to survive after some years. There are tons of not so visible overheads and costs, and it (apparently) has taken a billionaire to be able to start such a company (disclaimer: I have no idea what GoodRx is).
- treis 4y ago>I'm pretty sure you're free to compete with them if you think it's profitable. If I could generate the amount of free advertising Cuban's getting I would.